A common question among business owners: how do you measure your return on investment (ROI) from your marketing campaigns, including both your online campaigns (i.e. search engine optimization, pay per click, social media) and offline campaigns? In the “State of Marketing Measurement” survey executed by Ifbyphone in 2011, over 200 U.S. marketing professionals were asked these same questions. I’ll review some key findings for you today. So here goes…

We can all agree most companies aim to measure their ROI across various marketing channels, but defining success within each channel can be cumbersome. When asked which type of marketing channel is the hardest to measure, over 50% of the respondents agreed that offline channels (i.e. print) were the most difficult to track. On the other hand, search engine optimization and pay per click were ranked as some of the least difficult marketing methods to track:

Problem Areas

When it comes to online advertising, the marketing professionals listed two particular areas of concern: the optimal ad spend per channel (37%) and the right amount of money to bid on certain keywords (27%) (MarketingProfs). Do you feel the same way?

Defining Success

How do marketing professionals actually measure success? According to the survey results, success is primarily defined by increases in sales and number of brand-new customers attained:

Measuring your ROI won’t always be an easy task, but it is absolutely necessary to make wise business decisions and determine whether you’re putting the right amount of money into a specific marketing channel (or not). Your business can only be successful when success is defined, tracked, and measured on a continual basis.

How does your company measure your ROI? How do you define a marketing campaign’s success?

About Alan Moore: Alan is an Internet Marketing Consultant with ReachLocal Baltimore. His mission is to help you increase your revenues and decrease unproductive advertising expenses through proven, online marketing strategies. He manages over $1.4 million in yearly marketing budgets and has worked with local businesses, agencies and the US government. Give him a call at (877)655-3438 to schedule a free consultation.